The quieter half of the question
Bugged? Here's the honest answer
Cameras get all the attention. A hidden microphone is a different problem — harder to find, and much less common. I'd rather tell you that straight than sell you false confidence.
Why audio is harder than video
Everything in the 90-second sweep leans on one fact: a camera needs a sightline, so the flashlight lens pass and the "does it belong to the room's story" check both work because a lens has to see something. A microphone doesn't need any of that. It can sit inside a wall, under a table, or in a lamp base — anywhere close enough to hear — and it doesn't need a lens, so the lens trick catches nothing.
The good news: audio-only devices are rare
The people who place hidden devices in short-term rentals are, overwhelmingly, after images — a microphone alone doesn't serve that motive. Corporate and legal eavesdropping is a real category, but it targets boardrooms and negotiations, not a Tuesday-night Airbnb. If that's genuinely your situation, you want a professional sweep, not a guide like this one.
What actually works
- The same three questions still apply. A device that transmits or records audio still needs power, still tends to sit somewhere useful — near where people actually talk — and still doesn't belong to the room's story. Most audio bugs get found the way cameras do: by noticing an object that arrived for a different reason than the furniture.
- A hardware RF detector is the one tool that earns its keep here. A transmitting bug puts out a radio signal, and a real RF detector with an antenna can find it by walking the room slowly and watching the signal climb. This is the single job where a detector is more useful on audio than it ever is on cameras.
- Know the ceiling on that. A recorder that only stores audio to a memory card and transmits nothing is, for practical purposes, undetectable by a consumer — no app finds it, no detector finds it. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. The realistic answer: treat a rental as the wrong place for the most sensitive conversation you'll have this year, and step outside for the call that matters.
- Don't overlook what's openly listening. A smart speaker in the living room is a microphone with a company's name on it — mute it with the hardware button, or unplug it. It isn't tampering with a security device; it's declining to have a live microphone in your room.
The law is on your side here
In the United States, hidden audio recording sits under wiretapping law — 18 U.S.C. § 2511 federally, plus state statutes — and penalties are generally harsher than for video alone. Many states require every party to a conversation to consent to being recorded. See the actual statute for your state. (General information, not legal advice.)
If you find something
Same rule as everywhere else: don't touch it. Leaving it in place preserves fingerprints and whatever the device has already stored, and it means whoever's listening doesn't know you know. The full order of operations — what to preserve, who to call first — is in what to do if you find something.
The book covers audio devices and the smart-speaker rules chapter and verse. The complete system — every check on this site plus the ten-minute walkthrough, audio devices, your legal rights, and what to do if you find something. 47 printable pages, instant download, keep it on any device.